


Snap shoot (camera lens, uh, pointing at you)

by borntovixx



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: A lot of gay panicking, Alternative Idolverse, China line are best friends, Fluff, M/M, Social Media, Strangers to Lovers, Twitter, Zhong Chen Le/Park Jisung - Freeform, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:47:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21750016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borntovixx/pseuds/borntovixx
Summary: Renjun is one of the most popular Jaemin fansites. He gets into a lot of fansigns and loves to take pictures of Jaemin and sometimes other members as well.Pointing the camera towards the stage, he notices Jeno is staring at him... and wait,why is Jeno looking into his camera? And why is he blushing?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 19
Kudos: 309
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	Snap shoot (camera lens, uh, pointing at you)

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I actually managed to finish writing this!!!  
> It's the first time I write something for a fic fest, so I'm extremely excited to post it. I saw this prompt and I was like....... it needs to be Noren, doesn't it?  
> I tried to write something I had never written before (and I don't read a lot of idolverse, even though this one isn't like canon NCT, but it comes close to that) and I hope it came out well!  
> I'd like to thank the admins of this fest (especially for giving me an extension, thank you a lot!!!) and my beta, that made this look better than it would have without their help!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! 
> 
> Title from Seventeen's Snap Shoot. Written for prompt #003!

Renjun fixed the zoom on his camera before taking another shot of Na Jaemin

It had started out as a joke, taking pictures of one of NCT J's rappers, after his friend Chenle had jokingly challenged him to try to get into a fansign.

  


But after seeing the idol with his own two eyes for the first time he couldn't help but want to keep taking pictures of the rapper.

The guy was simply beautiful: his blonde hair fell elegantly on his forehead, pulled back enough to show it, his slightly tan skin sparkled under the lights of the stage and his smile literally lit up the whole room.

Renjun liked to take pictures of beautiful things, and Jaemin was one of them.

He wasn't one of those delusional fans that thought they actually had a chance to be with their idol, he just liked taking pictures, and if he had to go to fansigns to do that he didn't see why he shouldn't.

  


After all, he genuinely liked NCT J's songs, he had plenty of money and spare time to spend on being a fansite for the idol, so he just went with it.

He’d had good feedback, too. A lot of Jaemin stans seemed to like his pictures, and he even saw a few of them appreciating his own looks.

He didn't understand why they chose to focus on him, a simple guy who had too much free time and an expensive camera, but he couldn't say the comments didn't boost his ego.

When he had first transferred from China he was scared that it would be hard to fit in, but in the end, it was easier than he thought. Befriending Chenle, a Chinese transfer student just like him, on his first week in Korea had definitely made living there less scary.

And they had been inseparable ever since. 

  


They were even together in this fansite adventure as well.

They had first listened to an NCT J song together, too, after all. 

  


It had been a few days before the start of the new semester. They had been in Chenle's room simply enjoying the air conditioning— it was way too hot to even consider going outside— and they had stumbled on one of NCT J’s songs on the suggested section of Youtube.

They had clicked on the video without thinking too much about it and the song just grew on them. Renjun had simply fallen for the group's aesthetics while Chenle, with his growing passion for rapping, had been amazed by the group's rap skills. Something that Renjun still found adorable, considering Chenle was an excellent vocalist. 

The group— composed by six members: Johnny, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Jaemin, Jeno and Jisung— had perfect visuals and their music videos had the most beautiful cinematography Renjun had ever seen, so he couldn't help but become a huge fan. He liked their songs too, a lot, and he found himself humming to them randomly during the day.

His favourite video was probably Back to You. Shot in Hong Kong, the video showed the gorgeous members of the group lip syncing to the song with some of Hong Kong's most beautiful scenery in the background.

Colourful buildings, western style gothic cathedrals, neon signs written in traditional characters; the cinematography in the video was just breath-taking, and Renjun wished he could portray something like that too one day. Either through pictures or painting, it didn’t matter, because as much as he loved taking pictures, painting was probably his most favourite thing in the world.

The song— something sweet with rap parts that paced up the rhythm— made him think of good memories, with a tiny bit of melancholy to them, so he liked it a lot.

Chenle, on the other hand, had a completely different taste in music, preferring the more energetic Wait a Minute.

His bias, Jisung, had quite a few parts in that song, so Renjun couldn't really blame him for choosing it as his favourite.

"Did you get a good shot?" asked Chenle, turning towards Renjun with a huge smile, one that never seemed to leave his face when he was in the same room as his idol.

"I swear if Jisung doesn't stop moving every time I try to take a picture... I'm just going to punch him. He's so irritating, I'm just trying to portray his beauty but no! He has to move every single second, making it impossible to get a stable picture."

Chenle then turned back to the fansign table, looking into the camera to take another shot.

"Well yes, I did. Every Jaemin shot is a good shot, after all," Renjun said nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on the idols sitting at the table, waiting for other fans to ask for their autographs.

"Jisung-ah. Please stop moving, I'm just trying to take a picture, oh my God!" Chenle screamed out of frustration, just as the room went surprisingly silent, and he covered his mouth right after, as if those words weren’t meant to be spoken out loud.

Renjun chuckled, as did a few other fans sitting near them. While Jisung, lifted his head up in surprise and started looking at the crowd, trying to find the source of that request.

Jungwoo, who noticed some fans pointing at them, whispered something in Jisung’s ear and laughed when the other opened his eyes wide and— wait a minute, was that a faint blush on his cheeks?

No, Renjun must have been mistaken, that was probably just make up, or maybe the lights on the stage were stronger than he thought. The idol turned to their direction, looking at Chenle, staring right at him, a little smirk on his face.

He then smiled cutely, a closed hand resting on his cheek. The whole crowd screamed when he tilted his head to the side and put a finger on his cheek, making his face look even softer and squishier than usual.

Chenle, still not believing his bias had finally noticed him, stood still, not being able to do anything except look at Jisung being the most adorable person he'd ever seen.

"Uhh, Earth to Chenle?" Renjun whispered in his ear, lightly tugging the hand that held the camera.

"I think he's waiting for you to take pictures. After requesting it so kindly, are you going to make him wait?" he said jokingly, and Chenle, snapping back to reality, elbowed him lightly in the waist, making the other whine in pain.

"Shut up," he said, taking his camera to finally take stable - and also very cute - pictures of his favourite person on earth. Well, besides his elder brother, Kun. Kun was Chenle’s most favourite person ever and no matter how stunningly beautiful and sickeningly cute Jisung looked, no one could ever change that.

While his friend was busy with his task, Renjun looked at his camera roll to check the shots he had so far. They were mostly Jaemin, but in some of them there were also other members.

He had taken one of Johnny with his head thrown back, laughing loudly as Jaemin showed him a cute gift from a fan.

Then there were a lot of Jaemin wearing that gift— a bunny headband that made him look disgustingly adorable, making cute faces and finger hearts.

God, Renjun hated how much Jaemin liked doing aegyo, his lower lip pushed forward in a cute pout while talking and his eyes wide open to make them look bigger. He felt the need to punch a wall whenever he did that— or him. Or both.

How he ended up picking him as his bias was far from him. Maybe it was Jaemin’s quirky and sassy personality, together with his strong self-confidence, that made him a little bit more special to Renjun than the other members.

As he scrolled down the pictures, he noticed that in some of them, while Jaemin was looking somewhere else or staring right into his fans' eyes, Jeno was looking in  _ his  _ direction, and in two or three of them was even looking right into his camera. Or at least it was what it looked like.

_ Uhm, weird. Why would he look at me when there are a lot of his fansites here? _

Out of all the members, Jeno was always the one with the most fansites attending events, so he had no reason to look into  _ Renjun’s _ camera.

Maybe he had Jeno fansites sitting around him and he didn't know? It's not like Renjun knew any other fansite besides Chenle, after all.

Yeah, that must have been the reason why his pictures came out like that.

He lifted his head at the call to get ready for his turn to get his copy of the album signed, and made eye contact with Jeno. The idol, a surprised expression on his face, quickly looked away as if he was trying to hide the fact that he was staring, hiding his face behind Jaemin's shoulder.

The fans awed at his cuteness, some of them screamed for the JaemJen interaction— the fandom called them that and, even though Renjun didn't get the shipping he admitted it was a cute name, at least.

  


As long as they shipped their couples without mentioning the artists in their post, he didn't see anything wrong in that. He thought Jaemin and Jeno were a great duo; they had a great chemistry, their voices sounded good together and they were also both extremely handsome. 

Renjun looked around himself, wondering who Jeno was looking at, and then lifted his camera while he was on the line to the stage, snapping a few shots of Jaemin and Jeno posing cutely together for the fans.

Those pictures were going to get a lot of retweets, he was sure.

Fans seemed to love pictures of the two together, and Renjun would be lying if he said that he didn't, too. Some of his favourite shots were JaemJen ones, because Jaemin's eyes always seemed to sparkle and Jeno's cute smile— his eyes curving into crescents and almost disappearing— looked genuine and even more adorable than usual.

Maybe he had a soft spot for Jeno, but he’d never admit it to a soul. He had a reputation as a Jaemin fansite and solo stan to protect.

The line went quickly and it was finally his turn to get his copy signed, and even though it wasn't his first fansign he still felt giddy and excited, his legs so wobbly that he was scared he’d trip while walking to the table.

  


He became a fan for their music at first, but after watching some of their reality shows he liked them even more, and he looked up to them.

They worked hard for their dream, they tried to express themselves through not only music, but also through their hobbies that they showed to fans in their vlogs. They didn't let bad comments stop them, and kept working to reach success, although their path was full of obstacles.

All their hard work paid off, and they became one of the most successful Korean acts worldwide.

  


He admired them so much. They were a source of strength for him when he felt like giving up.

  


No matter how many fansigns he came to, he couldn’t forget that. 

  


This time the members weren't seated in their usual oldest to youngest order, as Jisung was sitting beside Jungwoo, Jeno beside him and Jaemin, was the last on the line.

He sat in front of Johnny, who smiled at him widely, taking his album to sign it.

He tried to ask him something in Chinese — everyone in the fandom knew he studied it and often practiced with his labelmates WayV, who were going to debut very soon— and Renjun was very surprised at how his fluency and pronunciation got better since the last time he heard him speak it.

He told him that, making the elder smile widely, and then moved to the next member.

No matter how many fansigns he went to, every time he was in front of Jaehyun he wondered how it was possible to be that beautiful.

He was so handsome Renjun couldn't stare at his face for too long, so he lifted his eyes to his hair, wondering how could it still look healthy after all the hair dye it went through. It was probably very soft too, since the idol couldn’t seem to stop running his hands through it every few minutes.

Next it was Jungwoo and when he smiled cutely and talked to him in tiny font Renjun couldn’t help but smile back. He was just as sweet as his voice, and always tried to encourage and cheer up his fans during these events, often holding both their hands and looking at them right in the eyes.

  


His words were sincere and Renjun could feel that.

  


Talking to Jisung, two years younger than him, always came very easy to him. He was happy he could drop all formalities and just chat with him, as if they were friends in another life.

  


Before Renjun moved to the next member, Jisung looked to his right and he noticed he was looking at Chenle, who was two people behind. This time Renjun was close enough to notice the faint blush on his cheeks, and he found it endearing.

  


"Yeah, I'm sorry if my friend acted like that earlier, he's so embarrassing. He just likes you a lot and wants to get good pictures."

  


Jisung gaped slightly. "O-Oh, no problem at all! I also like hi...his pictures a lot, so no worries!" he clapped his hands together, and waved at him before Renjun left.

_Could Chenle’s unrequited crush on Jisung be not so unrequited?_ He chuckled at the thought of his friend finding out, picturing him going into full gay panic.

Renjun felt a pair of eyes on him, and when he turned his eyes met Jeno’s.

Now that he was closer than earlier, he could see the idol’s ears turn slightly red.

Their eye contact only lasted a few seconds, though, as Jeno immediately looked down to take the album from his hands. He looked nervous, as if their roles were reversed and he was the one meeting a stupidly attractive idol after luckily getting into a fansign.

Did he end up in an alternative universe without noticing? Why would Jeno, drop dead gorgeous  _ Jeno _ , act like that? Renjun wasn’t ugly, that much he knew, but he was just himself, it’s not like he could compare to an idol.

Not to mention the style chosen for this comeback,  _ Blah-blah _ , a slow-paced but fierce and powerful song made Jeno look even more handsome.

Blonde hair, with a dark undercut that underlined his sharp facial features, dark eyeliner smudged at the edges that made his sparkling dark eyes pop, a sleeveless blazer with no shirt underneath that showed his toned arms paired with black slacks and high combat boots— the stylists really went hard with this concept, and it not only made the fans go crazy over the long awaited darker image of the idol group, but it also brought a lot of new people into the fandom.

Renjun really liked the contrast between Jeno’s stage presence— strong and magnetic— and his off-stage persona, all cute smiles and overall adorable.

How could the soft guy in front of him, who smiled shyly at him as he sat down, be the same one that made fans scream during performances?

“Oh, you’ve dyed your hair!”

Of all the things Renjun thought Jeno would say to him, he didn’t think about this at all. Well, it was true, but he didn’t think Jeno would remember him, much less that he had a different hair color last time.

After years of boring brown hair, he had decided to step out of his comfort zone and dyed his hair honey blonde.

“Yes, do you like it?” he asked as he ran a hand through it absentmindedly. He felt his cheeks getting a little hotter than usual, and hoped they didn’t turn red as well.

“Yeah, you look great! Not that you didn’t before, you looked cute with dark hair too. You would probably look good with bright red hair, with a face like that. It’s not like the colour would matter much.” Renjun raised an eyebrow at that, not knowing if he should be happy or offended by that.

Jeno blushed harder, his mouth slightly agape as he realised what he had just said.

“I-I mean, I've noticed you a few times at other fansigns and public schedules and I... like your face. Yeah. Beautiful. You're good looking, I mean... Objectively speaking, of course. Yeah. You czennies look all so pretty, at events and in your selcas. I am so happy to have such beautiful fans, and you're also very creative and talented too! Your pictures make Nana look prettier than he is. I mean, look at him." He turned to his right, pointing at Jaemin, probably expecting Renjun to do the same. But Renjun wouldn't move, still processing everything he said.

_ Jeno noticed me? He remembered... me? Oh my God. And he said he likes my face? That I'm good looking? That's... Oh my God, I can't believe he said that. _

_ Jeno... he saw my pictures? Although I'm a Jaemin fansite? And he complimented them _ ? He needed a moment to process this.

_ Wait a minute, he lurks on stan Twitter too, since he said he saw fanarts and selca days... What if he saw mine?  _ That was too much. Maybe he needed a little more than just a moment. Maybe a hour or two.

He interrupted his internal mental breakdown as Jeno waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention.

"I'm sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

Renjun smiled at him, shaking his head. "Oh, no no, not at all! I was just surprised, you know? I didn't think I would ever hear someone like you telling me I'm good looking. Like, you're the one to talk."

"Uh?" Jeno tilted his head, giving him a confused and slightly surprised look.

"I mean, have you seen yourself? You are so good looking, seriously. I don't think pictures could give any of you justice, but that's especially true with you. Pictures can look great, but nothing compares to the real thing." He had always thought that, but he didn't think he would ever have the chance— and most of all the guts— to say it.

He hated when he heard Jeno say he didn't feel beautiful enough during interviews, so Renjun just gave voice to his thoughts, not letting this chance to hype Jeno up go to waste. Jeno had to know what the fandom thought, what  _ he  _ thought.

One of the staff motioned to hurry him along, but Jeno held his hand and looked right into his eyes. They stood still for a second, and Renjun could feel his heart starting to beat faster. He should have felt confused by the situation he was in, but he only felt overwhelmed and surprised.

"Thank you." Jeno said sincerely "I will see you at the next fansign, right?"

"I'll try my best to get in," he said, smiling genuinely as he took his album and moved to the next, and last, person.

He turned to Jaemin, who immediately smiled at him. His smile was wide and bright, making his cheeks look more pinchable than usual. Renjun didn't know if his heart was still racing from what had just happened or from Jaemin's cuteness. Probably both.

"Hey! I remember you! You came to last fansign as well, right?"

Renjun nodded, giggling as Jaemin looked up at the staff that was placing a Ryan headband on his head, thanking her and giving her a thumbs up.

"What do you think, how do I look?" he asked in aegyo voice, pouting exaggeratedly and doing a flower pose, staring at Renjun right in the eyes.

_ “Cute,” _ Renjun couldn't help but think - or maybe he just said it out loud. Jaemin knew perfectly how to act cute and, since the fans seemed to like it a lot, he did it often. Though Renjun thought Jaemin himself was the one who liked it the most, especially when he saw how his precious fans, his czennies, reacted to it.

"Oh, you think so? I think it would be cuter on you though," he said, winking.

Renjun flushed violently, not accepting that at all. What was going on? Why was everyone lowkey flirtatious today?

Jaemin took the headband off his head and put it on Renjun's, then poked Jeno's shoulder to get his attention.

Jeno gave back the album to the fan in front of him and turned to Jaemin, who was grinning widely.

"Jeno-ah, what do you think, does he look cuter than me with it?"

Renjun blushed slightly as he felt Jeno's eyes on him, a cute smirk on his face.

"Of course he does. Anyone would look cuter than you, ugly," Jeno said, sticking his tongue out.

Jaemin snorted loudly, rolling his eyes and punching Jeno on the arm. "Yah, shut up!"

Renjun giggled at the scene happening before him, amused by the way they teased each other, pretending to be mad. The two stopped bickering and turned to him, their eyes wide.

  


He wondered if he offended them somehow, by laughing, but before he could go on full paranoid mode Jaemin smiled, smiling widely. "You're right, he's way cuter than me," he said matter-of-factly "I can see why you're obses—" Jeno blushed scarlet, putting a hand on Jaemin's mouth to shut him up.

Before Renjun could even think about what Jaemin meant one of the staff herded him down towards the stairs, his time for the fansign was over.

Not that he went far. 

Looking back up at the stage he watched Chenle talking to Jisung, who was smiling cutely at something his friend had said while jotting something on the other's photobook. The idol raised his head, and the two stood still for a few seconds, looking at each other right in the eyes. Jisung took Chenle's hand in his and squeezed it lightly. Renjun could see his friend's ears turning red as the other winked at him and waved goodbye, and Renjun laughed as Chenle almost tripped on his way to the next member.

"So, how did it go?" he asked Chenle as the two left the venue some time later.

"It went too fast. The only thing I remember is talking to Jisung, to be honest. But he's just so amazing, you know?" Chenle’s eyes sparkled as he went on for two minutes on how Jisung had asked him questions about his life, complimented his pictures and told him his mother set one of them as her phone wallpaper. Renjun smiled fondly, listening to him speak that excitedly.

“He even wrote something on the post-it I left on the photobook…” he said, as he took the album out of his bag. He browsed quickly through the pages to find it, his tongue poking out in concentration.

His eyes opened wide in shock when he found it. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Jisung, h-he…” Chenle removed the post-it, letting Renjun read it with his own eyes.

  


_ Hey Chenle, thank you so much for your support!! Let’s keep in touch, okay?  _ The message was followed by a smiley face and a username, probably a Twitter account as there was an at sign behind it.

“He must think you’re amazing too,” Renjun said, laughing at his friend’s face, still shocked “What are you waiting for? Follow him immediately!”

"O-Okay, yeah. Right." Chenle took his phone out of his pocket and quickly typed Jisung's Twitter username. His profile was a public Jisung stan account, with a cute picture of himself as the icon.

  


"I can't believe him," he snorted, finding the whole thing hilarious. “Having a stan account of himself? And the nickname is literally ‘ _ i am jisung pwark _ ’... that’s so hilarious.”

He followed him, and as the page refreshed a new tweet popped up. 

  


_ Met the cutest boy today :( His smile literally made my day,, I already miss him and his dolphin laugh :(( _

  


  


Renjun giggled as he read it from above his shoulder, and Chenle turned red as a tomato.

  


“Oh my God, he’s talking about you…” Renjun gasped, his lips curled in a grin. 

  


“Shut up, he isn’t!” 

  


“How many cute boys did you see at the fansign? There was just me and you. Yeah, I’m cute too, but I don’t think he even remembers me. And a dolphin laugh? That’s totally you,” he stated, patting Chenle on the back as he covered his cheeks with his hands.

  


"Oh my God,  _ Oh my God _ , he thinks I'm cute.  _ Me _ . He's the one to talk. _ He  _ is the cutest boy ever, not me. I mean, have you seen him? The way he wrinkles his nose and his eyes sparkle when he smiles? His puffy cheeks? Adorable as fuck, if you ask me." Chenle said, crossing his arms and pouting as if the words had offended him.

  


Renjun laughed, "Why don't you tell him, then?"

  


"You're right, that's exactly what I'm going to do!" he replied. He cracked his knuckles and then started to type furiously on his phone, the latest model of iPhone barely fitting in his hands. 

  


  


  


  


*

  


After that day, Renjun and Chenle tried to get into as many fansigns as possible.

Chenle wanted to see Jisung all the time, missing him the second after they left an event, and Renjun went with him to keep him company. 

  


Or at least that’s what he told himself, fully knowing it was a huge lie. 

  


The truth was that after his first interaction with Jeno, Renjun couldn’t stop thinking about him. He spent much more time than he would like to admit looking for Jeno-related content on social media, watching solo dance practices and cute moments compilations on Youtube, missing both his strong stage presence and his cute eye smile.

  


When he watched Jeno smiling right into the camera, or heard him laughing gleefully, Renjun felt butterflies flying chaotically in his stomach. 

  


Renjun knew what they meant, and he knew he was developing feelings for Jeno, but he decided to ignore them. He tried so hard not to think about Jeno, but as the days went by, it became harder and harder. 

  


With each fansign he went to, Renjun felt himself falling a little bit deeper, his camera became filled with pictures of Jeno and he found himself looking forward to the time they could talk during fansigns, even if it always felt too short and too fast. 

  


All the pictures of Jeno he posted on his fansite account got a positive feedback, as people appreciated how natural and raw they looked. Every time Renjun tried to edit them it felt wrong, the Jeno in the picture looking completely different from the one always on his mind, so Renjun always ended up posting the pictures without modifying them at all. 

  


Jeno already looked perfect in every picture, after all, so there was no need to edit them. 

  


Renjun sighed, going through the gallery of his phone. It was mostly references for his art assignments, Moomin and pictures of Jaemin and (mostly) Jeno, _ obviously _ . 

  


Not finding the picture he wanted, Renjun decided to take a few selfies. He checked himself in the mirror and fixed his hair, his dark blonde locks looking messy but still good. 

  


Chenle had challenged him to take part in selca day, and Renjun wasn’t one to back up from challenges. 

  


After a while, he decided he had taken enough selfies, he sat down and started looking for pictures he could match them with. Renjun was a perfectionist, especially when talking about art, so he spent a lot of time selecting the right pictures and the right concept.

  


When he was satisfied with the result, he posted it and sent the link to Chenle, waiting for his reaction. 

  


  


  


*

Jeno lay on the floor of the practice room, breathing heavily after hours of non-stop dancing. Their comeback was approaching, and this time the choreography was extremely fast and detailed, probably the hardest they had ever done.

He placed a hand on his chest, his heart still beating fast, his limbs trembling as he finally had the time to rest.

  


Jisung and Jaemin sat beside him, wiping away the sweat from their dripping foreheads. Jaemin handed him a bottle of water. which he immediately gulped down, emptying it in a matter of seconds. They all heard a loud giggle, and noticed Jisung typing fast on his phone with a huge smile on his face.

  


"Who are you texting?" asked Jaemin, sliding beside him to peek at the screen of his phone. Jisung quickly locked it, bringing it to his chest to prevent the other from reading. "M-Me? No one! I was just watching cat videos," he muttered with a shy smirk, his words sounding unconvincing even to himself. Jeno's eyes lit up at the mention of cats, while Jaemin raised an eyebrow, totally not buying his answer.

  


"Oh my God, cats! Let me see!" exclaimed Jeno, sitting up and sliding on Jisung's vacant side, the slight mention of the fluffy and furry animals making him feel fully energised again. 

  


"Jeno, he's obviously lying, don't be that naïve. He's texting his crush. Chenle, right?" 

  


At the mention of the name Jisung blushed hard, his eyes wide open.

  


"I'm not crushing on him! W-We're just... friends" he said, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose and scratching the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. 

  


Jeno smiled tenderly, knowing well that Jisung didn't like to talk about something that personal in public - they were still in the practice room, after all - and changed the subject.

  


"Do you know what day it is today?" asked Jeno, unlocking his phone and opening Twitter. 

  


"Oh my, don't tell me I forgot about someone's birthday…" Jaemin said, as he sat beside Jeno, leaning against the mirrored wall of the practice room. 

  


"What? No! Today is our fans' selca day, which means Twitter will be full of their pictures matching with one of us. I think it's cute, and our fans are adorable and very creative too!" he explained, showing Jaemin and Jisung some tweets. They scrolled through the tag, appreciating their fans' editing skills and aesthetic sense, amazed by how they managed to match pictures that well. 

  


Jisung liked most of them with his fan account, interacting with some nctzen mutuals, too. Jeno and Jaemin didn't miss the way he hyped Chenle's selca day with lots of heart eyes and green heart emojis.  _ Jisung is so cute _ , they both whispered, giggling. 

  


"Hey, isn't that Renjun?" Jaemin scrolled the timeline to get back to the tweet and tapped on it. He laughed when he read the caption, a famous vine quote, and realised that he didn't match with Jaemin - as you would expect from one of his fansites - but with Jeno. 

  


"Yeah," Jeno brought his phone closer to his face and zoomed on the picture Renjun chose for the selca day. 

  


The oversized yellow hoodie Renjun was wearing made him look even smaller than he already was, his hand doing a peace sign barely visible from his his sweater paw. His lips were curled in a small grin, and his blond hair fell softly on his forehead, short enough to show his eyes, which sparkled as if they held galaxies inside them. And he was wearing specs, too. 

  


"He's so cute. I miss him," said Jeno, as he read some of replies under the tweet. 

  


_ "Omg, you're so cute!" _

  


Jeno smiled. He totally agreed.

  


_ "You look amazing with blond hair!" _

  


_ "Lee Jeno, who? I'm dropping him for you!" _

  


_ "I love this concept, you two look good together!" _

  


Jeno blushed, thinking of the last time he had seen Renjun. It was a special fan event in which some fans were allowed to take pictures with them, and Jeno's heart started beating uncontrollably fast when Renjun placed himself between him and Jaemin, laughing at something Jaemin had said. When he closed his eyes, he could still see the sweet smile Renjun gave him when he left, and he cherished that moment so much that he had cropped the picture to set it as his Kakao Talk wallpaper. Jeno agreed, they looked good together, and he wished he had the guts to at least admit he had a crush on him.

  


_ "You're a Jaemin fansite tho, why Jeno?" _

  


There was no reply under that tweet, but Jeno, just like the user who asked the question, wished he could know the answer. 

  


"You're not the only one, it seems." Jisung showed him Chenle's quoted reply, written in Chinese and full of laughing and starry eyed emojis. 

  


_ "You actually matched it with Jeno-hyung, I can't believe this hahaha. Do you miss him that much?"  _

  


_ “Shut up, Chenle-ah. Of course I do. You know why I did this...” _

  


_ “Yeah, I just want you to admit it” _

  


_ “Never.”  _

  


The tweet contained a picture of a child sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, wearing an ugly pair of black sunglasses and judging hard whoever was taking the picture. Jeno snorted, finding the whole thing hilarious. 

  


_ “Stop using my childhood pics as memes!!”  _

  


_ “Never, I have a whole folder and I’m not afraid to use it.” _

  


Chenle replied with a picture of Renjun pouting, comic-style eyebags and tears edited into it.  _ Cute _ . 

  


Jeno raised his head, confused by the conversation he had just read. 

  


_ Renjun missed him too?  _ Twitter’s translator may not be the best, but with his little knowledge of Chinese he was sure that at least that part was correct. 

  


_ What did Chenle want Renjun to admit?  _ Jeno didn’t know what that could mean, and he didn’t want to get too delusional, so he decided to just like the tweet and reply with a “ _ cute <3 _ ” using his fan account. 

  


He stood up and left the building with Jaemin and Jisung to get some well deserved barbecue with the other members, his phone silenced and locked in the pocket of his long coat.

  


Little did he know, he had made a terrible mistake.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


*

  


  


  


Renjun turned off the light on his desk and threw himself on the bed, tired after hours of studying. He really didn’t mind studying in general, but Art History was killing him. All those dates, and those foreign names he didn’t even know how to pronounce… he tried so hard to remember them but he always missed some, and it stressed him out. 

  


Luckily, he still had one month before the exam, so he decided to call it a day and to spend the rest of the evening resting. 

  


He opened Twitter and checked his fansite profile to get some feedback on the pictures he posted. He was proud of how they came out, and the fans seemed to like them as well. He appreciated all the good comments they left, they made him feel motivated to get even better at photography and editing.

  


He didn’t edit them that much - unlike some fansites that played with brushes way too much - because he wanted his pictures to be as close as possible to the real thing. Whitewashed pictures made his skin itch. They looked too fake for his liking.

  


He liked to portray the raw essence of his subjects, their natural skin tone, with every scar and imperfection, every detail that made a contribution to making them beautiful. 

  


Renjun switched to his fan account and noticed he had a  _ lot  _ of notifications. 

  


“Oh? Why is that? What happened?” 

  


Before he could read them, he got some texts from Chenle.

  


_ “renjun!!! nct’s official account liked and replied to your selca day!!!” _

_ “i bet it was jeno!!!!” _

_ “he even put a <3 hahaha gross” _

  


“Oh my God.” Renjun zoomed on the screenshot Chenle sent him, not believing his eyes. The account was verified, so there was no way it could be a fake one, this time. And the number of notifications he got, probably from fans who saw their tweet, left no space to doubt. 

  


Renjun got another text from Chenle.

  


_ “yaah, don’t forget me when you’re famous” _

  


He snorted and clicked on his tweet, that had thousands of likes and retweets, and saw NCT’s reply. 

  


_ “Oh my, so cute <3” _

  


“I can’t believe this, oh my God,” he exclaimed covering his mouth with his hand and letting out a small laugh. When he realised that it was probably Jeno who tweeted that, he blushed hard. 

  


Jeno saw _ that _ . His poor selca skills. The vine reference he used to say how he lowkey -  _ lowkey? who is he kidding? _ \- missed him. And he thought he was  _ cute.  _

  


It wasn’t the first time Jeno told him that, but it was the first time after Renjun had realised that he was crushing on him. It felt completely different to read those words now, and he couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. 

  


His heart couldn’t stop beating fast, and it was making him feel like a teenager dealing with his first crush.

  


Renjun liked and retweeted NCT’s tweet, and then locked his phone, too lazy to go through all the notifications. He placed it on the nightstand on his left and screamed into his pillow, still not believing what had just happened.

  


  


  


  


*

  


  


  


  


"Oh my God, Jeno-hyung. You messed up," said Jisung, covering his mouth as he let out an amused laugh. Jeno paused the game they were playing and put down the controller to take the phone Jisung was handing him.

  


He quickly read the chat with Chenle and when he realised what he did, he gasped dramatically, his eyes and mouth wide open in shock.

  


"Fuck!" Jeno took his own phone and realised that yes, he was still logged into NCT J's official account, and yes, he just had thousands of their fans read his terrible attempt at flirting. 

  


_ Flirting? What am I even thinking? He wouldn't have known it was me behind a fan account. But he's smart, he'll realise it was me behind the official account!! I always go into full gay panic when I see him, in real life and even in pictures… Aaaaah, why am I like this???? _

  


Jeno fisted his hair and rubbed his temples, letting out an annoyed groan. He could not believe his own stupidity.

  


"Don't panic, hyung," Jisung placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly, "everything is under control. Johnny-hyung told me the staff already handled everything, so you shouldn't worry about that tweet. You should talk to Renjun, though. Chenle told me he's not mad or anything, but he probably deserves an explanation."

  


"Uh?" Jeno lifted his head, feeling relieved. "And how can I do that? It's not like I can send him a DM with the official account, and if I use my fan account he'll never believe it is me, he'll think it's some kind of joke!" 

  


"Well, my dear hyung, turns out I have the solution to your problem! In fact, my cute boyfriend Chele just gave me Renjun's number!!" Jisung scribbled the digits on a post-it and sticked it on Jeno's forehead. 

  


"Here," he said, patting the sticky note with his fingers. "Now you can apologise and tell him about the huge embarrassing crush you have on him! Congratulations, it’s you lucky day!" 

  


Jisung giggled, gathering his things before leaving Jeno's room.

  


Jeno removed the sticker from his forehead and stared at the numbers, his phone now feeling heavy in his hand. He had to apologise, he couldn't chicken out this time. He thought about writing his contact or his number in Renjun's album during one of their last fansigns, but he felt too embarrassed and eventually gave up. 

  


_ I can do this!  _ He thought, stretching his fingers, thinking about how he should begin apologising. 

  


And then he suddenly processed everything Jisung had said.

  


"Wait, what do you mean  _ boyfriend _ ? Jisung-ah, come back here!!"

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Renjun woke up from his short nap to a text from an unknown number. 

  


He unlocked his phone and nearly dropped it on the floor. Before he could start to freak out, he quickly texted Chenle.

  


**_chenle????????? why did i just get a text from an unknown number saying they're jeno???????_ **

  


_ oh yeah, i gave jisung your number and he gave it to jeno! he said jeno had something to tell you!  _

_ he's so cute, trying to play cupid between you two _

_ he's the cutest, how did i get so lucky???  _

  


Renjun snorted, still not used to the fact the they texted each other every day, as if they were best friends or something. 

  


**_what do you mean playing cupid???_ **

  


_ you're so dense lmao _

_ just answer his text!! You didn't leave him on read, didn't you???????  _

  


**_oh my god!!!!_ **

  


Renjun sat up on his bed, resting his back on the wall. He went back to Jeno's chat, and the first thing he saw was a selfie that Jeno had probably sent him to prove him the text wasn't a prank. While it did confirm his identity, it also nearly gave him a heart attack. 

  


He would have never imagined _the_ _Lee Jeno_ would ever text him, even less send him what looked like a post workout selfie.

  


It was probably taken in a hurry, as it was kinda blurry. Jeno's hair was now black, and it looked soft despite all the times he had dyed it. It was thrown back, showing his forehead dripping with sweat. His lips were curled in a smirk, and his eyes glistened under the artificial white light of the room. He was wearing a black tank top, his toned arms on full display, flexed as did a v sign with his hand, wrapped in a black bandage. 

  


"Oh my God," he breathed out, slapping himself back to his task. Which was reading the text, and definitely not staring at the picture until it got ingrained under his eyelids. 

  


He screenshotted it,  _ you know, just in case the chat got accidentally deleted _ , and then he started reading.

  


_ hey renjun, this is jeno!! jisung gave me your number he asked chenle… can you believe they are boyfriends now??? crazy, right??? _

  


**_hey! no worries, chenle already told me!_ **

  


“Wait, what?” he gasped. He read again the text. Chenle and Jisung had started dating? And Chenle didn’t tell him? He couldn’t believe it.

  


**_excuse me, they are what???_ **

  


_ ikr!!!! jisung let it slip, i don’t think he meant to tell me yet! he’s so adorable, i always want to pinch his cheeks!!  _

  


Renjun giggled, thinking about all the times he had seen Jeno pinch Jisung’s cheeks.

  


_ anyWAY _

_ i wanted to apologise for what happened on twitter, i hope my comment didn't make you feel uncomfortable _

_ i meant to use another account but i got distracted…i still mean what i said tho _

  


**_you do?_ **

  


_ yeah, i mean  _

_ those pictures were cute, YOU are cute _

_ but apologising isn’t the only reason why i texted you _

_ in fact, i have something to tell you _

  


Renjun felt his heart skip a beat. He really couldn’t believe that was happening to him. 

  


_ i really don’t wanna do this through text, but i have a schedule in one hour so… can i call you? _

  


Renjun started the call before he could chicken out. Jeno picked up immediately and he suddenly felt as if someone had punched him in the guts, leaving him out of breath. 

  


_ “Hey,”  _ Jeno’s voice sounded raspy and sleepy, and Renjun wondered if he had just woken up from a nap, too. 

  


_ “Hey,” _ he said, trying hard not to make his voice tremble. To say he was nervous was an understatement. 

  


_ “I’m sorry again for what happened. I should have been more careful.” _

  


_ “Don’t worry. I was just surprised, actually. I didn’t expect that.” _

  


_ “Yeah, I know… that should have stayed in the drafts, right?”  _ Jeno said, giggling. 

  


Renjun laughed as well. Jeno quoting stan twitter language made him feel more at ease. Like he was talking to a friend, and not to a celebrity. 

  


_ “Nah, it’s okay. It made me happy, because I also think you’re very cute,”  _ he admitted, his words filled with sudden confidence. He heard Jeno coughing on the other line, and he chuckled, finding it amusing.

  


_ “Really?”  _

  


_ “Yes! Why are you so surprised? Don’t you hear that all the time?”  _ Renjun wondered how he could still get surprised by that after hearing his fans saying things like that everyday.

  


_ “Yeah, but it’s different to hear it from you.” _

  


_ “Oh?”  _ Renjun was surprised by Jeno’s words, and how earnest they sounded. He heard Jeno moving and sheets rifling, low grunts as he sat up on his bed, most likely. 

  


_ “Actually, that is what I wanted to tell you. I don’t want to make you worry so I’ll go straight to the point,”  _ Jeno took a deep breath, trying to calm down. 

  


_ “I have a crush on you. I realised it when I couldn’t stop searching for you through the crowd and missing you when you weren’t there. Seeing you makes me so happy, you know? And nervous too, because you’re just so pretty I can’t think straight.”  _

  


They both laughed at that, and Renjun felt butterflies in his stomach, both for Jeno’s words and for his cute giggle. He wished he could see his face in that moment, his lips curved in the cutest smile he had ever seen.

  


_ “You know, you have the same effect on me,”  _ Renjun said,  _ “I tried so hard to get into every fansign because I missed you too much. And I also felt kinda stupid for having an unrequited crush on a idol, but I simply couldn’t help it. You’re too charming, Jeno.” _

  


_ “Wait, you have a crush on me?”  _

  


_ “Yes? Yes, I do! God, it feels so weird to say it out loud.”  _ He ran a hand through his hair, feeling a weight being lifted off his chest. He told Jeno he likes him, and Jeno actually liked him back. Unbelievable. 

  


_ “Wow, I can’t believe this is happening, I feel so happy right now,”  _ said Jeno, letting out a relieved laugh. 

  


_ “Me too… it is feels too surreal.” _

  


_ “Maybe we should meet, then. You know, to make it feel more real? And also because I miss your cute face.”  _ Renjun couldn’t help but blush at that, feeling his cheeks getting warm.  _ “I really have to go now, but we could meet tomorrow at 5pm, if you’re not busy?” _

  


_ “Yeah, I’m totally free,”  _ he said, immediately realising that he wasn’t free, as he had an art project due in two days he still hadn’t started. But he really wanted to see Jeno as soon as possible, so he decided he’d pull an all nighter, even two nights in a row if necessary. Was it worth it? For Jeno, yes. 

  


_ “Great! You can pick the place, see you tomorrow! Oh my God, I’ll see you tomorrow!”  _ Jeno exclaimed excitedly. 

  


_ “Yeah, see you tomorrow!” _

  


_ “Oh, and don’t forget to bring your camera! I want to take matching pictures, just for the two of us this time.” _

  


_ “Sure! Don’t worry, I won’t post a selca day anymore. This one worked, so there’s no point in doing that,”  _ Renjun laughed, standing up from his bed to go back to his desk. 

  


_ “Oh? So it was all part of a pla― Yeah yeah, hyung, I’m coming!”  _ Jeno yelled to someone.  _ “I’ll text you later, bye Renjun!” _

  


_ “Bye!”  _ Renjun ended the call, feeling on cloud nine. He had a date with Jeno tomorrow. It was a date,  _ right?  _ It definitely was. And he didn’t know where to go, what to wear, how to act in front of the guy he liked. It was his first date ever, and didn’t know what he was supposed to do. 

  


Before he could start panicking he decided to save all those thoughts for later. First, he really needed to focus on his assignments. He started working on his project, smiling as his pencil  scratched on paper , NCT J’s Back To You playing in the background.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments would be appreciated! 
> 
> Also, I think people who follow me on social media will be able to guess it's me but I'm not 100% sure haha


End file.
